Michael Grace Phipps (January 10, 1910 – March 13, 1973) was an American businessman, champion

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player, owner/breeder of racehorses, and a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Biography

Michael Phipps was the son of John Shaffer Phipps and Margarita Celia Grace, daughter of

Michael P. Grace Michael Paul Grace (1842 – September 20, 1920) was an Irish-American businessman who was a shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of W. R. Grace and Company shipping company of New York City and of Grace Brothers & Co. Ltd. of London ...

. He was a member of the

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

intercollegiate championship team in both 1930 and 1932. He participated in the 1936 and 1939

International Polo Cup The International Polo Cup, also called the Newport Cup and the Westchester Cup, is a trophy in polo that was created in 1876 and was played for by teams from the United States and United Kingdom. The match has varied in length over the years ...

. A member of the

Meadowbrook Polo Club The Meadowbrook Polo Club (originally styled as the "Meadow Brook Club"), located in Old Westbury, New York, is the oldest continuously operating polo club in the United States, first established in 1881.Marie, Kim (August 27, 201The Power of The ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in 1938 he was elevated to a Ten Goal ranking, the highest level achievable in polo. On March 17, 1994 he was posthumously elected to the

Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame The Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization to celebrate the sport of polo.Horace Laffaye, Dennis J. Amato, ''Polo in the United States: A History'', Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2011, p. 28/ref> Overview It ...

Education and business career

Michael Phipps studied at St. Bernard's School and St. Paul's School before going on to

. Phipps became a successful investor and would serve as a vice president of his family's Bessemer Securities Corporation and sit on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

W. R. Grace and Company W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...

, a company owned by his maternal grandfather's family.

Thoroughbred racing

Several members of the Phipps family were involved in horse racing. Most notably from the same era as Michael Phipps was his brother

Hubert Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers ...

, a cousin Ogden, as well as his uncle

Henry Carnegie Phipps Henry Carnegie Phipps (May 11, 1879 – March 21, 1953) was an American Sportsperson, sportsman and financier, the owner of Wheatley Stable along with his wife Gladys Mills Phipps, and a member of the wealthy Phipps family. Early life Phipps was b ...

whose wife was a partner in the renowned

Wheatley Stable Wheatley Stable was the '' nom de course '' for the thoroughbred horse racing partnership formed by Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden Livingston Mills. The horses were raised at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. History Over the ye ...

. On the death of his father, Michaell Phipps purchased his stable of horses from the Estate. Some of the successful Thoroughbreds owned and raced by Michael Phipps were

Raja Baba Raja Baba (April 5, 1968 – October 9, 2002) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who became the 1980 Champion sire in North America. Background Raja Baba was sired by Bold Ruler, the leading sire in North America eight times and a Nationa ...

and Gentleman James. Michael Phipps served on the board of directors of

Hialeah Park Race Track The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 2 ...

.Palm Beach Post - March 15, 1973
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Michael Grace 1910 births 1973 deaths Yale University alumni Businesspeople from New York (state) American polo players International Polo Cup American racehorse owners and breeders Philanthropists from New York (state) Phipps family Place of birth missing People from Old Westbury, New York People from Palm Beach, Florida 20th-century American businesspeople St. Bernard's School alumni 20th-century American philanthropists